Want A Job? Pick Up Mandarin ... or Pin Down An Inmate

As previously mentioned, though the unemployment rate beat expectations by dropping a slight margin there are still plenty out there looking for work.

For a number of job seekers, though, hope has faded to the point where many have put an indefinite hold on their respective searches. There are those, however, who are still out and about looking for a gig – and the experience has become quite humbling.

Take Kristen Thompson, who was included in a report by the Associated Press on the jobs once considered the dirtiest and dangerous now becoming highly sought after positions.

Before the recession, Thompson worked as a pricy personal trainer at an upscale gym in Los Angeles. Now she's a guard at a women's prison in rural Wyoming.

Similar stories can be said for others profiled who now work at sewage plants and slaughterhouses.

While these adults speak out on jobs they never pictured themselves working, teenagers across the country are experiencing the complete opposite.

And for those looking to earn experience related to their future careers, the internship hustle has become harder than ever. Things have gotten so bad that some college students have started paying for services to help them find an internship.

Yep, that’s right the New York Times revealed that parents are now paying for their kids to get the chance to work for free. In one example, parents of a college junior dropped $8,000 for their son to work as an assignment at Ford Modeling Agency.

For new graduates, some have decided to take the plunge and let their job search take them all the way to China. Despite not speaking Mandarin and knowing next to nothing about the country, a wave of recent grads have headed East in order to capitalize on China’s soaring economy not to mention the chance to bypass the dues-paying jobs they would have to succumb to stateside.

For those of us left here, I’d love to hear where your employment search has taken you. Are you ready to pick up a trash bag or a plane ticket for a job?